People who work hard vs People who work less

why is it that people that work hard get paid less(construction workers,Teachers, ect.) than the people that work less (white collar workers)

Mostly because most white collar workers have college degrees?

Hmmm I'm not sure how it works there but here teachers and nurses have to do degrees and damn hard ones too, none of this 3 lectures a week lark!!! It's weird though bin men get paid almost as much as a junior nurse, that's not right esp with the bin men and their 'rules' nowadays....

Plus other workers such as construction workers, police and fire fighters might not have degrees but have to put their life in danger on a regular basis, especially the last two....it's basically because teachers, nurses, police, fire fighters etc all work for the government whereas white collar workers workfor private companies, banks etc.....

Of which can only be obtained if you're born into wealth or receive a scholarship because you managed to come back into life doing the Dalai Lama thing.

This is an extremely good question.

People should be compensated for the effort they made for education.

HOWEVER

People should also be compensated for sacrificing their good health and body in later years.

All those people toughing it out in factories and physical labor often times suffer from torn up backs and injuries during their later years and are unable to enjoy retirement.

I personally feel that higher tiered jobs should pay less so that lower tiered jobs can pay more.

Not necessary making it exactly Even Steven but still leveling it out so that so that things are fair.

if they do level it out then there will not be any incentive to go to university other than intelectual curiosity. then there may not be the same advances in science and medicine that there could have otherwise been.

it is mostly due to private sector jobs who think they need to pay more inorder to keep and attract new employees.

Maybe then the people who attend college will be there for better reasons than getting an MBA or law degree that can be used to make lots of money without really contributing anything to society.

then there will be no lawyers and therefore more crime if there is noone to represent the people who have been wronged.

i study forensic science and law btw, but i will contribute to society and as a scientist its not as if i will be in some massive house somewhere on a hill side.

It's just 2 different sectors of work, it doesn't necessarily mean those with office jobs don't work as hard as those involved in manual labour. There's more expertise and training in the business and academic fields, so I can see why they get paid more. However, at least in the UK, plumbers and electricians with expertise in the practicalities of that, so they get paid a lot.

But people who work hard look better longer than people who sit on their butts all day..

By 'working hard' you are just thinking about physically working hard, you aren't thinking about people who do little physically but work hard mentally.

And depending what area of construction you go into, and what qualifications you have, it can be well paid. Hell, if you work hard, and have a bit of a head for business, you can start your own construction business and become a millionaire! (Perhaps not now with the recession etc, but you could before).

It's all different anyway, some office workers are highly paid, but some will be on minimum wage. Some teachers will be paid more than others, depending on what they teach or job title or performance reviews (at one point it was based on what degree level they got).

My Grandad did physically demanding jobs all his working life, my Dad does an office based job - they both suffer from back problems. In fact, on the whole, my Grandads has a much healthier body - despite being older and having more physically demanding jobs

However, if education were free, I would agree that there should be more of similar level of wages between workers.

If I had a preference I'd rather hurt my back via sitting funny in my desk chair rather than hurting my back heavy lifting.